Bronchos Host No. 6 Washburn Thursday

Central Oklahoma resumes Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play this week with a pair of home matches at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos, 13-1 overall and 3-1 in the league, host No. 6-ranked Washburn (11-1, 3-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday before taking on Emporia State (4-9, 1-3) at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

"It's going to be another tough week," head coach Edgar Miraku said. "Washburn has a lot of great players and they're one of the best teams in the country, so that will be quite a challenge for us. And we always have good battles with Emporia, who is much better than their record indicates."

UCO is tied for second in the conference standings with WU, Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri. Central Missouri leads at 3-0.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO suffered its first loss of the year last Saturday, falling in four tough sets at No. 7-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. The 13-0 start equaled the second-best in school history.

Sophomore Mallorie Koehn led the Bronchos last weekend, hitting .387 with 30 kills and just six errors in 62 attacks in a four-set win over Fort Hays State and the loss to UNK.

UCO continues to receive votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 rankings. The Bronchos came in the equivalent of 33rd in this week's poll.

Central leads the conference in kills (755), kills per set (14.25), digs (1,015), digs per set (19.15), attack attempts per set (41.74) and assists (685). The Bronchos top Division II in digs while ranking second in attack attempts and kills and third in assists.

Sophomore defensive whiz Jaedynn Evans continues to lead the country in both digs (353) and digs per set (6.66). She's had 25-plus digs in nine matches, including a streak of five straight.

Freshman setter Lindsey Houran tops the MIAA and ranks third nationally in assists per set (11.43). She totaled 99 assists last weekend and has had 40-plus assists in nine outings.

Rookie Sydney Huck is the league leader in kills (4.36) and points (5.02 per set. The outside hitter has racked up 218 kills already, which ranks fourth in Division II.

Huck is hitting .302 for the season and has had nine matches with at least 15 kills. She's added 147 digs, 27 blocks and 18 service aces.

Koehn (140) and sophomore Jenna Karp (125) also have triple-digit kills on the season, with Koehn ranking ninth in the conference in kills per set (2.86). Karp owns the ninth-best hitting percentage (.307) in the league and leads the team in blocks with 43.

ABOUT THE ICHABODS: Washburn sustained its first loss of the season last Saturday, dropping a five-set thriller to No. 11-ranked Northwest Missouri.

The Ichabods, last year's NCAA Division II national runner-up, are led by a trio of players hitting .300-plus on the season. Halle Meister is second in the MIAA at .408 with 107 kills and 30 blocks, while Kassidy Pfeiffer is hitting .369 with 46 kills and 34 blocks and Kealy Kiviniemi .304 with 52 kills.

Jalyn Stevenson has a team-high 125 kills and Sophie McMullen has 147 digs, 35 kills and a league-leading 26 service aces.

Washburn has a 16-9 lead in the series with UCO and has won the last five meetings.

ABOUT THE HORNETS: Emporia State fell to top-20 teams Washburn and Northwest Missouri last weekend before topping William Jewell in a five-set non-conference battle Tuesday night.

Leah Mach paces the Hornets with 132 kills and 134 digs. Orianna Clements has collected 113 kills, while Shelby Ebert has 107 kills, 125 digs, 20 blocks and 18 aces. Ebert and Mach had 17 kills apiece in Tuesday's win over William Jewell.

The Bronchos have taken 17 of the last 18 matches with Emporia in opening up a 20-12 lead in the series.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Jaedynn Evans: DS/LIB; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#7 Jenna Karp: MB; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#4 Mallorie Koehn: OH; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#1 Lindsey Houran: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

#14 Sydney Huck: OH; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#6 Jaedynn Evans
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: DS/LIB

#7 Jenna Karp
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB

#4 Mallorie Koehn
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: OH

#1 Lindsey Houran
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

#14 Sydney Huck
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: OH